Why Meghan Markle’s First Royal Tour to Australia Is an Especially Big Deal

"The eyes of the world will be on her."

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The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Visit Ireland
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In the few months she’s been a duchess, Meghan Markle has adapted to life as a royal like a duck to water. Even when she’s reportedly found it “difficult to understand” (which, relatable), she still makes it look easy.

But her trip to Australia with Prince Harry this fall—their first overseas tour as a married couple—is going to present a whole different set of challenges, according to the Queen’s former spokesperson, Dickie Arbiter. He told the Daily Mail, “With the Duchess of Sussex being from the US the concept of monarchy is a bit alien, so it’s been a great learning curve she has taken in her stride and managed incredibly well.” But when she and Harry go abroad to, among other things, attend the Invictus Games that he helped found in 2014, which start in Sydney on October 20.

According to Arbiter, the trip will be a “litmus test” for Meghan to see how well she’s able to keep up with her royal duties. “She’s a good communicator, she’s good at talking to people but it will be a real baptism of fire,” he says. “They will have a very demanding schedule and the Duchess will have to get used to local customs with the eyes of the world on her.”

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But while that sounds stressful, Arbiter was sure to add, “But no doubt she will come through with flying colors and they will show they will be a force of good for the Commonwealth and the Royal Family on the global stage.”

Honestly, we think she’s doing a pretty great job already.

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Cady Drell

Cady has been a writer and editor in Brooklyn for about 10 years. While her earlier career focused primarily on culture and music, her stories—both those she edited and those she wrote—over the last few years have tended to focus on environmentalism, reproductive rights, and feminist issues. She primarily contributes as a freelancer journalist on these subjects while pursuing her degrees. She held staff positions working in both print and online media, at Rolling Stone and Newsweek, and continued this work as a senior editor, first at Glamour until 2018, and then at Marie Claire magazine. She received her Master's in Environmental Conservation Education at New York University in 2021, and is now working toward her JF and Environmental Law Certificate at Elisabeth Haub School of Law in White Plains.